Shotgun Mike Question

M

mistaong1

I need some advice regarding shotgun mikes. I am shooting a movie and I tried to record the audio with a omni mike on a improvised boom, but the sound I am getting is just not cutting it. I am shooting with a Canon XL2. My questions are:

1. Does anyone know of any sites that compare shotgun mikes that are preferably in the 200-300 dollar range (Yes I know that is the low end for shotgun mikes)?

2. Does anyone just have a mike in that price range that they really like and would suggest I get one?

3. Will I need or should I boost the sound by using the option found with the XL2 menu after I get a shotgun mike.

Thanks!
 
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Gustamize said:
I have a question about boom mics. Has anyone here used a wind blimp? If so does it really help matters when it comes to blocking the wind? (Of course with in reason)
Click to expand...

I have a shotgun blimp capsule but I haven't tried it outdoors yet. I need to make a fuzzy cover for it.

Check out this thread for pictures of my DIY boom pole:

http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=8863&page=2

Of course, my microphone setup is out of your price range, but it definitely produces good sound. It came with my camera (XL1s).
 
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Yes, blimps do make a significant difference when shooting in the wind. Especially with the ("furry cover") sock installed.

I would second the audio technica idea.. they have a few mics in that price range that are pretty decent.

You'll probably also want to use some kind of balanced audio interface (like the ones from BeachTek) it will make your audio much more edit friendly. Otherwise it tends to be pretty easy to pick up transient hum and whatnot from lights, etc. These little boxes eliminate that, and are worth their weight in gold for getting good clean audio.

As for the audio boost, I'm not entirely familiar with the XL2, so I don't know what specifically you're referring to in that regard.

I'm sure Knightly will chime in on this thread at the end of the weekend sometime, he's dealt with these issues with his XL1, which I think on the audio side of things is pretty similar to the XL2.
 
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I have a costume fur windsock that cost me < $5 to make with a little bit of thread and needle. it totally cut down the wind (10-15 MPH). I've been meaning to put the two camera's audio (one on camera and the other with my homemade blimp) on left and right channels to show the difference between the two..time to fire up the footage from my feature again ;)
 
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Thanks for the advice guys. I was on Ebay a couple of weeks ago and I was checking out boom poles. Right now we're using a PVC one which is only like 6ft long so it's not bad, and I have another one which is made out of wood, so that's when I saw the Wind Blimps. I have seen some DIYS online after I saw how expensive they were, but was curious if they actually made a difference. From your guy's comments they do. I'll add it to my things of things :)
 
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knightly please explain how you made your homemade furry windscreen with costume material. I am using an Azden shotgun mic and the screen that came with it is insufficient for wind. Thanks.
 
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Sure, I took a piece of costume fur a few inches longer than the blimp, and wide enough to wrap around the cylinder of the blimp with a half an inch to spare on either side (this is important).

comb the fur away from the edges toward the center (give it a faux hawk)...this will make the fur lay correctly for when you sew it shut, hiding the seam and providing better wind coverage at the seam.


With the fur facing in, sew a seam a half an inch in from the edges (this is why the extra was important earlier).

You'll need to make a curved seam or two at the nose end of the tube you've just made (it's still inside out). Squeeze the end together at the point and 2-3 cut curved pieces (I always concept this stuff with a brown paper bag first and use that as a pattern for how to cut stuff - learned that trick from my mother), then sew those curves shut. This should leave you with a rounded nose. Finish by stitching the very point shut and turn back inside out.

You can repeat this on the other end leaving some extra flap for velcro, but I jsut left the back of mine open as is the back of the blimp and I tuck the fur into the back of the blimp loosely so that it fills the hole and provides wind protection there.
 
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Knightly, I picked up some costume fur a while back and have been envisioning how I'd sew it together. At first I thought of the same method you used, but then I began to wonder how a seam right in front of the mic would affect sound quality. Have you noticed any muffling of the voices with the fur in place?
 
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I've had no problems with the fur on and the seam in the front of the microphone. I've used it with and without and can't tell any negligible difference between the two.
 
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If I remember, VideoMaker magazine had a review of mics not to long ago.

I use an Azden, I like it a lot.

I too went to the fabric store and bought some fur and made my own wind sock. I used a paper towel tube as a form/pattern. And, instead of having a seam through the front, I made a circle, sewed on on with the whole thing inside out, then turned it out again when finished sewing. I used some Velcro to wrap around the back end to keep it on.
 
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on the Homemade Zeplin ideas

yes..and Zep will change the sound of your mic...but not enough to truley be noticed...just enough for us soundguys to complain about every time we have to use one...

but getting back to your homemade ideas...i would use a sock first...and a thin one too...useing a furry dog on your blimp will change your sound more...not that you shouldnt have one...but going with a sock first would be a better choise for quality reasons and them moving to something thicker if you still get wind noise...

i go naked on my Zeps till i need to put something on them and sometimes if there is no wind i just go with a foam windscreen...and if its raining...they get everything...so make you Furry Dogs to fit over your socks and also use a windsceen inside the Zep as well in the rain....

have fun
 
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